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Dali Dong’s Blog Entry #7

Last Sunday, White House officials announced a new 10-year defense pact that was agreed by both American government and Philippines government, which increased presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines. This deal was made from President Obama’s arrival in the Philippine capital, Manila. This agreement will give U.S forces the access to select Philippine bases and position planes and ships there. This is also the last stop on his four-country Asian tour, which contain Japan, South Korean, Malaysia and Philippine.
The details of this 10-year defense pact are still waiting to be worked out, however this agreement certainly is a significant step in the Obama administration’s pivot toward Asia. President Obama has been careful about the issues towards China during this trip even though this trip does not include China. He said that he was not trying to contain China, instead he is interested in China’s peaceful rise. But the thing U.S government is doing right now is helping Philippines to develop a better defense against China and other countries. Philippines and American have a long time connection throughout the history about the military defense treaty.

American government is making some allies form this four- country trip and those allies are already long time friends throughout the Cold War. United States could say that America is helping those countries to defense China, especially South Korean, Malaysia and Philippine. In my opinion, the thing American government is trying to do is to limit China’s peace raise.